A Warrior's Revelation
by tetisheri
Summary: Yamcha travels back to the desert to be reminded of his childhood, a time when he was completely and utterly free.


AN: This has to be the longest one shot I have written. I'm glad that it's about Yamcha. I really like his character and I've already written a one shot about him. This story came to me when I was watching Dragon Ball. I am aware that Puar is technically a male, but I don't know I always thought of Puar as a female so I refer to her as such. Please review and let me know what you think of it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z

A Warrior's Revelation

I couldn't believe I was doing this. I hadn't been back here since I left for the city. Back then I was love struck and would do anything to please her. I left my home so I could be with the woman I loved. It seemed like such a great idea at the time. She couldn't live in the desert…oh no not her, she was far too fragile for that.

The only option left was for me to leave to the city with her. I packed up what belongings I cared about and sealed off my house. Well I wouldn't really call it a house. It was more of a hideaway, but still it was my home. I did the best I could to make sure no one could break into it. I didn't want it to be destroyed by the neighboring thieves.

I left everything I knew for one girl. I was such an idiot. I believed just because we were each others first love we would stay together forever. How foolish a thought that was. We had a good twelve years. Twelve long years that ended with her in another mans arms and left me to glue myself back together.

It's been what now? Ten years since the break up? Tens years and here I am wallowing in my past pain. I am pathetic. I tried for a few years to get over her. I went out on dates, tried having that intimate moment with those women as I did with her. It never worked. At one point I stopped looking for love. How could I possibly find love when I myself was still in love with someone else?

So here I was going back to a time when she wasn't in my life. A time when I was a desert bandit, and I ruled the desert. I was the most feared and fierce bandit there was. The villagers respected me, feared me, and some even left out offerings so I wouldn't rob them.

The city had done a number on me. I no longer wore gi's as my regular clothing. I wore designer suits. I didn't keep my sword at my hip, I didn't need a sword any longer. My hair had tamed down a lot since I was younger. Instead of it's wild almost curly quality it was tamed down to waves. I kept it at a shoulder length and pulled back in a tail. I wasn't even Yamcha the Bandit, no I was Yamcha the Baseball star.

I couldn't tell you which one I liked better. I missed being young. I missed being free of all responsibility. I missed only having to care for myself and Puar. The thought of my long time companion made me smile. Puar was at the Kame House. I hadn't told her I was going back here. I wanted to make this journey alone. I wanted to be reminded of my childhood.

The air conditioning in the car was a silent blessing. I could see the heat waves in the air. I had forgotten how hot it could get here. Sometimes the sand grew so hot it burnt to touch. I couldn't walk right on my left foot for months afterward. I chuckled lightly at the memory. Puar had to help me walk, which meant she shape shifted into a crutch of sorts. It always ended up with me hopping along as she tiredly tried keeping me from falling over.

The one time Puar got a cold I had freaked out to the point of loosing consciousness. I thought she was dying the way she kept coughing and her fever seemed to be hotter then the burning sand. I remember waking up to find the sick Puar floating over me with a wet wash cloth. She was always taking care of me at her own expense. She was far too good of a friend, I didn't deserve her. Before I go to the Kame House I'm buying her a really nice present.

So many great memories were of being here. I smiled and accelerated the car wanting to see my old home more then ever. The desert was a harsh place to live. You lived day by day not knowing what tomorrow would bring, but that was also the fun of living here. There was a new adventure each day. There was rarely a boring day.

The first time I met Goku was one of those new adventure days. Man…he was such a pipsqueak back then. He was twelve too…and barely the height of a seven year old. He sure did grow. That big lug was taller than me now. I was almost as strong as him back then as well. That will probably be the only time in my life I could have beat him.

I first met Puar while I was at the Oasis near my home. I was about thirteen and was gathering water for my water skin when this blue fuzz ball came hurdling out from the trees. I had thought she was some kind of threat and attempted to cut her with my sword. Oh how surprised I was when that blue fuzz ball started talking, and turned into a blue cat! We had a bit of a rocky start since I couldn't believe that little creature was a talented thief, but then we clicked and have been inseparable since. Well we use to be.

She went from living with me to living at the Kame House every few months or so. She liked living around the ocean a lot more then the city. I couldn't blame her really. She just wasn't cut out for city life. I use to think that, but now I couldn't think of not living in the city. I can't really comprehend how I lived out here for so long with so little. I really had turned into a city boy.

I almost wish that I never left the desert, but I can't regret why I left. I loved Bulma with everything I had, and that just wasn't enough for her. After the first few years of living in the city the holes in our relationship began to make themselves known. I liked being out and doing things, I liked hanging out with the guys after a baseball game. Bulma always wanted me to do what _she_ wanted, like shopping, or going to some convention. Those things were great…for her. Then there was her paranoia that I was always with another woman if I wasn't around her.

I should have seen then that it wouldn't work out between us. I adored her, and she still accused me of cheating. I always wanted to tell her that I was deathly afraid of women for most of my life. Why would I all of a sudden become a total horn dog for them? Of course if I told her that she would think I was being rude and judgmental. Those arguments grew in size until one day…one day she told me she had been sleeping with the Saiyan Prince.

I could have hated her in that one moment, only because of those large blue pitying eyes. She pitied _me_ because she had been sleeping around behind my back. That kind of logic made no sense what-so-ever. But this trip wasn't about her, no this was about me. I needed to be reminded of freedom. A familiar spire began taking shape far out into the desert.

The excitement running through my veins gushed forward once more. I couldn't believe I was coming back. I was finally returning to a place where I felt the most at home. I drove just a bit faster watching the spire grow in size. I stopped beside it seeing that the sign that I had painted with some paint I stole had faded and was no longer there. I had barely stepped out of the car when I heard the familiar click of a gun.

"Stop right there! Who are you and what are you doing?" a rather brash voice called out from over one of the rocks. I glanced around trying to pin point where it was coming from. "I asked you a question." the voice growled.

"I'm Yamcha and I use to live here." I answered my eyes still scanning the area. There was no sign that there was anyone but myself out here. Whoever this was, was pretty good at hiding.

"You use to live here?" the voice sounded taken by surprise. I caught a movement to my left and turned to see a woman step out from behind one of the pillars of a near by rock structure. In her hand was a gun. She had light loose fitting clothing on with tie up sandals. Her skin was bronzed from being out in the sun, and her long dark hair was braided tightly against her skull. A sword was strapped by her hip as well. "A hot shot city boy?" as she walked closer I could see that she had the classic beauty of all the women had who lived in the desert. The small straight nose, almond eyes, arched eyebrows, high cheekbones.

"I wasn't always like this." I mutter with a scowl. Who does she think she is talking to me like that? I was older then her by at least ten years. I nearly smack my forehead against my car for being so stupid. My age doesn't matter, not here. I was a trespasser. "Seriously I use to be known as Yamcha the Bandit." I state following her every movement. That gun is still loaded and ready to shoot.

"Hm." her eyes narrowed further as she sized me up. I might have been in a suit but I couldn't look that city boyish. The sun's heat was growing uncomforting though. "What clan you from?" A desert thief term. Most thieves in this desert came from clans unless they were rogue.

"Wolf." I had been taken by my dad when I was about six to begin training. When training was over, it was up to us on what we did with it. Some became local hero's, others went to the city, and there were the few that became thieves. She nodded appreciatively.

"Leopard myself." she flashed a smile showing off sharpened canines. It was a tradition within some clans to sharpen the female's canines when they were of marrying age. It was to pay respects to the animal guardian. She glanced up at the sun and pursed her lips. "A sand storms coming in. You better capsulate your car if you want to keep it." she nodded towards the machine like it was trash. How committed to this life was she?

"Are you going to leave me out here when it comes?" I ask as I capsulate the car.

"That would be rude…plus if your buried by sand I'd have to dig you out to rob you. That's just way to much work for one person." with that said she nimbly free climbed the spire up to the entrance of the cave. "I hope the climbs not too hard, Old man." she snickered disappearing into the mouth of the cave I had hollowed out by hand.

It took me a few moments to process what she had just called me. I had never been called old before. Sure I was nearing the age forty, but I didn't look it. I was still very young looking for my age. I think it has to do with me being a martial artist for most of my youth. I would age nicely instead of being a wrinkly old man by the age of fifty.

"Old man my ass." I grumbled climbing up the spire. I look down once I'm by the entrance and whistle low. She fixed the place up pretty nice. There was an A/C unit hooked up in the corner, and it was running fine making the cave about thirty degrees cooler then the outside. A TV sat against the wall across from what looked like a huge bean bag. There was a thin mat in the cubby hole where I use to hang the hammock. A table was off to the side, it held two chairs. In the far corner of the cave was a fire pit. There were a few chests against the walls.

I glance over to the woman who was looking through one of the chests. She squatted towards the ground, but I knew that nothing could sneak up on her. I climb down the ladder and into the homely cave. It looked nothing like when I lived here. It didn't look exotic…it looked like an apartment.

"How did you manage the electricity?" I ask craning my neck towards the ceiling.

"It's all solar powered." her voice slightly muffled. "I haven't worked out plumbing yet…so that's the same." she chuckled mirthless laugh.

"How long have you been here?" her head appeared from inside of the chest. She had bright lime green eyes. They shone in the artificial light.

"Seven years or so." she shrugged and stood empty handed. She closed the chest with a simple flick of her wrist. "So what brings you here?" the woman asked walking passed me toward the large bean bag.

Her stare reminded me of an animal accessing it's prey. Nothing like the scientific calculating gaze of Bulma's eyes. This woman's eyes gleamed dangerously in the light. They were wild, yet completely in control. These were the eyes of a thief. Someone who had lived a long hard life to be where they were at, and they wouldn't give it up without a fight.

"Are you going to answer?" one of her thin eyebrows arched in question. I blinked nodding my head. She snorted in amusement. "Well then?"

"Oh uhm…I came here because…I uh…" I pursed my lips struggling to tell her the truth. Why should she know that I wanted to relive my past? That I wanted to be reminded of what freedom was?

"Hey if you don't want to tell me I don't care, but if you're here to reclaim this place you're going to be sorely disappointed." she grinned at me, almost as if she anticipated me telling her I wanted my old hideout back.

"No it's not for that." I told her. If I fought with her I had a very big suspicion she'd beat my ass. "What's your name?" I asked hoping that maybe she'd invite me to sit down.

"Pearl." she shrugged crossing her legs. "You don't need to be so courteous Yamcha. You're welcome to sit." Pearl rolled her eyes at me, as if being polite was a ridiculous concept. Then again…she was a desert thief. They were everything but polite.

"How'd you move the rock from the entrance?" I asked sitting down on one of the chairs beside the table.

"With a small explosive. Enough to break the rock but not damage the formation." she shrugged unsheathing her sword. Pearl laid it across her lap before looking at it, most likely making sure it was still sharp. I nodded in appreciation, not many thieves would go through that kind of trouble to get to something.

"You must have really wanted to get in. I took most of the valuable things with me when I left." her lime green eyes flicked towards me.

"I wasn't looking for loot." something about the way her voice dropped made me want to change the subject. "why'd you leave a place like this anyways? It's a palace compared to everything else here." She did the subject change for me.

"I fell in love with a city girl." I answered her truthfully. There was no need to lie about that. I almost expected her to start laughing at me.

"And she just couldn't handle this lifestyle? Huh…sounds like my mother." Pearl laughed mirthlessly. "Not many people are cut out to live like this."

"Ya I know. I use to live here, and now I can barely stand the heat." it might have been cool in the cave, but it was still far too hot for me. I slipped off my jacket setting it on the table.

"Well you better get use to it. That sand storm is gunna last for a while." she looked up at the entrance. After living in the desert for so long, you tend to grow a sixth sense for sand storms. I use to be able to tell a storm was coming a few days before it hit. "Don't worry though. If I was going to murder you I would have already done it."

"Thanks." I muttered feeling my face heat up slightly. I wasn't worried about her killing me. I wasn't even worried.

"I would turn on the TV, but everything tends to go wack when a storm is brewing." she shrugged sheathing her sword seemingly satisfied with it's sharpness. I nodded. It was quiet for a while until I heard a loud whooshing crash into the side of the spire. The electricity spazzed a while before going back to normal. From what I could see of the outside it was nothing but a brown mass. "You're some big shot baseball player aren't you?"

"Huh?" I turned to look at her. She was staring at me with her head shifted to the side, her braid falling over her shoulder. "Oh ya. Been playin since I moved to the city. Do you follow baseball?"

"It's one of four channels that come in out here. I'm not much into sports." she shrugged still staring at me. I could feel her eyes on my scars. Everyone was curious about my scars. "So what city you from?" I blinked taken back that she didn't ask where I had gotten my scars from.

"West City." I watched in amusement when her face scrunched up in disgust.

"God that city? Why would you want to live there?" she shuddered as if the mere thought of living in the city made her sick. I chuckled lightly.

"When your in love you don't think." Pearl rolled her eyes at the cheesiness that statement held. Another loud crash of sand against the spire made the lights flicker again. I only felt slightly nervous that the sand storm would cave in this place and we'd die.

"You still with her?" I almost didn't want to answer. She would surely laugh at me. I gave up my lifestyle for a relationship that didn't even last. Most thieves would see that as a big waste of time. "I'm sorry. She must have meant a lot to you." I looked up at her green eyes. They were filled with understanding, not laughter, or pity, just simple understanding.

"Ya…she did." my gaze fixed back onto the floor. I wasn't use to talking to strangers about Bulma, hell I didn't even talk about it to my friends.

It was silent for a long time. The only noise coming from the storm beating against the rock. Pearl sat in her beanbag quietly staring at the TV. It was like she knew I needed the quiet. I needed the tranquility of silence.

Bulma had never been able to handle silence. She would always do something to break it. Whether it was to complain about something that was insignificant, chat about the newest fashions, or start screaming at someone for something they did. Hell she would even start something sex related to keep from being quiet. I enjoyed the serene quality that being silent held. I didn't feel the need to fill every waking moment with noise. That was one major difference between Bulma and I.

I wonder where everyone thought I was. I didn't tell anyone that I was coming out here. I got into my car this morning set on going to the market to buy more groceries, but as I was driving I started thinking about my childhood. I hated how I was living. My life was one big loop, a never ending the cycle of nothing. I went to baseball practice, parties, reunions, went over to Bulma's to see how she was doing, baseball games. Then it would repeat itself. Nothing changed, not since Goku and Vegeta had defeated Buu.

They probably thought I was at some chicks house, having yet another meaningless affair. Or they thought I was at some baseball training camp. I'd been playing the game for years now, I didn't need to be trained. As long as I kept in shape I could play the game in my sleep. Hell I fell asleep during most games anyways. Maybe Puar would figure out where I really was. Maybe she'd think I was hiking in the desert just to do it.

I watched absentmindedly as Pearl got up from her seat. She moved to one of the chests and opened it. She started rummaging through it, before pulling out a few food items. They were non perishables. Stuff that could take the heat of the desert. She brought out a pot and went over to the fire pit. Using a can opener she opened the cans. She poured the contents into the pot before using a spark match to light the fire.

Pearl added in a few spices, or maybe it was just salt before standing back up. She went back into the trunk and took out two bowls. My stomach growled at me quietly. A generous thief it seemed. I would have never offered a stranger my food. I would have stolen from them and left them out for dead. A few minutes later the scent of tomato soup filled my nostrils. She poked her finger in the pot to test the temperature. She lifted the pot off the fire by the handle and made her way towards the table I was seated at.

"It's not much. But it's filling." she told me placing the bowl in front of me. She deftly poured the hot soup into the bowl repeating the action with her own bowl. She set the pot down on the table and sat cross legged on the chair. A spoon was pushed my way. "It's the only one I have, but I figured a city boy like you would need it." her bright eyes glinting.

"I use to live in the desert. I know how to eat soup without a spoon." I scowled at her pointedly ignoring the spoon and picking up the bowl. I took a small sip. The hot liquid warmed my body, I welcomed this warmth. It wasn't like the heat of the air. "See? I didn't need a spoon." I stated confidently. A grin spread across her face, making my confidence deflate. I had just played into her trap. She wanted me to eat without a spoon. My eyes narrowed considerably.

"I see…" she murmured lifting the bowl to her lips. Her eyes closed briefly as she sipped the red liquid. We ate in silence. I was slightly put off that she had managed to trick me. I use to be the one of the best tricksters in the desert, beside's Puar that is. Her being able to one up me made me realize just how much I had adapted to the city. Sure there was some need for alertness in the city, but not the constant struggle and fight that was in the desert.

"Thank you." I told her when I had finished the bowl. I felt slightly better now that I wasn't hungry, but the heat of the soup was making the temperature all the more uncomfortable. I looked to her clothes, the loose cloth covering most of her body. The cloth was dark, and it's looseness was used to retain the cool air. I was sweating profusely in my shirt and slacks while the desert dweller looked unaffected by the heat.

"Is there something interesting about my clothes?" Pearl questioned her eyes open in expectation. I shook my head in answer though I was envious of her immunity to the heat. "Do you require the A/C be turned up?" her lips turning up into a mocking smile. I scowled.

"No, I'm fine." I muttered feeling put out by the young woman. She rolled her eyes sliding out of the chair and going over to the A/C. "I said I was fine." I stated indignantly when she turned down the thermostat.

"Who said I was doing it for your sake?" she countered haughtily returning to the bean bag in front of the TV. It didn't assuage my anger any. Another large blast of wind and sand hit the spire, the electricity flickered on and off before completely going dark. The whirring of the A/C stopped.

The heat that followed was almost instantaneous. I wiped my forehead of any sweat, only feeling it become sweaty once more. The dry air made me lick my lips. Pearl seemed completely oblivious to the change in temperature. I swallowed against the dryness in my throat, my tongue scraping uncomfortably against the roof of my mouth. How had I ever lived in this kind of heat?

Then as if nothing happened the power went up again. The A/C came to life, filling the small space with it's cold air. I sighed in relief, it was a welcome change. From the corner of my eye I swear I saw Pearl's lip curl in amusement. I bet she got a lot of enjoyment seeing someone a city boy flail around from just a little heat. I truly had changed into a different person since I left the desert.

I could remember the days when the heat of the desert seemed non-existent. When I could go days traveling the sun baked land, with no shade what-so-ever and not feel the uncomfortable heat. I had thrived beneath the sun's heat once. It use to be where I was most at home.

"Do you care to watch the news?" Pearl asked pulling me out of my revere. I nodded turning the chair towards the TV. She turned it on, the channel already on the news. I lost track of how long I sat there in my old hideout watching the news with the new occupant.

The power shut off abruptly sometime later. Pearl muttered a curse standing from the bean bag. I stood up stretching my muscles. My joints popped as I did, I'd been idle for too long. When I settled back down I became aware of the heat. I groaned slumping into the chair.

This outing wasn't turning out the way I expected it to. There wasn't suppose to be a woman living in my hide out. The heat wasn't suppose to torment me. There was suppose to be the remnants of my past. Something to remind me of the boy I use to be. I was suppose to remember what it was like to live free. I waved my hand in an attempt to move the stagnant air. It was getting hotter in here by the second.

"You're gunna give yourself a stroke in those clothes." Pearl stated standing from the bean bag. I threw a curious glance her way when she went over to one of the chests. She bent down and starting looking through one of them. I continued to cool off my face. When she stood back up she had a pile of cloth in her hands. "Here, these are lighter then those." she walked over to me setting the pile of dark clothing on the table. "You can change behind the screen by the mat." she pointed to the changing screen.

I briefly wondered why someone living on their own would need a changing screen. I looked to the clothing wearily. She wouldn't try to kill me while I was changing…would she? I looked back to the woman who had wandered back to the bean bag. No, she already said if she was going to kill me she'd have already done it. I took the clothing off the table and went behind the changing screen.

The material was thin and light, it almost felt like I wasn't wearing anything at all. The shirt was long sleeved, but not constricting. The pants were just as light, if not a little big around the waist. I used the sash that came with it as a belt. I folded my clothes and stepped barefoot out from behind the screen. It was definitely cooler with these clothes on. I went back over to the table setting my folded clothes on top of my jacket with my shoes on top.

"Thanks." she nodded in acknowledgement. I sat back down silently, before turning towards her. "Why are you so generous? Has the rules of thieves changed?" Any thief back then would have left me to die, or at least killed me once I was in their hideout. They wouldn't make conversation, feed me, and even give me clothes. Hell I wouldn't have done any of those things if I were her.

"No they have not, but being a thief does not mean I need to be a brute." she shrugged. It was exceptionally darker in the hollowed out spire, but with the burning fire and the dim sunlight I could still see her face. She was frowning, those animal eyes narrowed.

"Well I'm glad that out of all the thieves I encountered you." I instinctually knew that if any of the other thieves from the desert clans had lived here, they would have robbed me blind. She could still rob me, but she didn't let the sandstorm kill me. Others would not have minded having to unburying my dead body just to steal what I had on me.

"Heh." it was the closest she had come to laughing since I met her a few hours earlier. "That sandstorm isn't stopping anytime soon." her eyes practically shined in the dim light when she turned to look at me. "You'll probably be here longer then you intended."

"That's okay I didn't really have a set time anyhow." though coach will probably freak out if I missed practice. I wondered once again if anyone noticed if I was gone. They all had their own lives to worry about, all had families. I was the only one who didn't have anyone special in my life. If they had noticed I was gone…did they care? I shied away from the question, not wanting to dwell on it too long.

"Would you like a drink?" Pearl asked, once more moving over to the chests.

"What kind of drink?" I asked noting that she had yet to remove her sword, even if she didn't have it on her I wouldn't be stupid enough not to think she didn't have another blade or more on her person.

"Black Desert Rose." I blinked in surprise, momentarily shell shocked. She emerged from the chest with a bottle and two glasses. Black Desert Rose was a liquor made from a rare plant that grew in a certain part of the desert. It was extremely potent to even the heaviest of drinkers.

"Who did you steal that from?" I asked when I found my voice. Pearl walked over to the table setting the glasses down.

"The chief of my clan." she answered pulling the cap off the bottle and pouring the thick black liquid into the two glasses. She stole from her own clan? The chief at that? The reason behind her living in my old hideout became clearer. The punishment for stealing from my old clan was exile, it could be the same for hers. She set my glass in front of me. I had only ever dreamed of tasting this liquor when I was a boy. She took a sip of it, her face twitching slightly. It was also a show that it was not poisoned. I took the glass and brought it to my lips.

It was unlike any other alcohol I had tasted. It was thick and sweet like nectar, but had a strong acrid after taste that burned it's way down my throat. It made me want to take another sip to relieve my mouth of the bitterness. I refrained my doing so though, and set the glass down.

"That was…" I tried looking for a word that described the drink, but none came to mind.

"Ya, it's unique." she sat down on the chair she had occupied earlier in the night. I took another sip of it, trying to pin point how to describe it. She too sipped at her glass again. Warmth spread throughout my body as the alcohol began to take effect. We took another sip from our glasses. "My father was furious when he found out I had stolen from him." I don't know if she said that on account the liquor was loosening her tongue, or she purposely said it, but now I knew she was a chief's daughter. A chief's daughter would have been married off to a suitor the moment she reached marrying age. She would not be trained, or have become a thief. Pearl wasn't an average day thief though, that much I could tell.

"I would imagine." I spoke slowly, looking down at my glass. It was empty.

"Here." she poured more into both our glasses before putting the bottle away. When she came back to the table she took a long drink from her glass. "Two glasses is more then enough."

"Hmm…I can see…what you mean." I was having trouble making my mouth word what I wanted to say. She cracked a smile lifting her glass in a silent cheers. I followed suit and took another drink.

The Black Desert Rose proved to be as powerful liquor as it was rumored. By the time I finished the second glass I was feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. I no longer felt the hot air against my skin. The constant noise of the sandstorm didn't seem as loud as before. The crackling of the fire was a welcomed noise.

"What were you like?" Pearl asked after a few moments of silence. I looked to her with curiously. "When you lived here…what were you like?" I frowned my eyebrows lowering in thought.

"Well…I was kind of evil. All I cared about was my next score, who I could terrorize next." she nodded thoughtfully. "That wasn't all. I also enjoyed exploring the desert, fighting people who tried to challenge me. I also avoided girls…they terrified me." I snorted at the memories of my once upon a time fear.

"You were afraid of _girls?_" She asked with an incredulous look. I nodded seriously. "Wow…hahaha, Yamcha the Bandit was afraid of women." she continued on laughing, I couldn't really be annoyed. It was kinda funny.

"Hey…so you do know who I was." I stated when I realized what she had said. Pearl rolled her eyes flicking her wrist out at me.

"Duh, everyone in the desert knows who you are." She smiled, those sharp canines looking less menacing then they had before. "You are the one and only man from a desert clan to face a god." her eyes sparkled with clarity. "The man who went up against the wolf god, and won."

I was slightly startled by that revelation. I had always assumed no one knew of that journey. I had already left the desert by the time I had went up against the god I was once worshiped as my clan's guardian animal. I did not know that the desert people knew about that feat. The one that earned me my scars. I absent mindedly traced the one on my cheek.

"I was unaware anyone knew that." I murmured.

"Your story was still going around, even when I was a child." she said still smiling.

"Now I am just a baseball player." I sounded bitter, even to my own ears. Pearl scowled rolling her eyes in annoyance, that admiring look in her eyes fading.

"Only because you let yourself be." she stated bluntly taking me, yet again, by surprise.

"What do you mean?" I asked even though I knew the answer. It was my own doing that I had fallen into a never ending cycle. I stopped training long ago, I allowed myself to grow weak over the years. It was _my_ doing that I had lost touch with my youth.

"Don't ask questions you already know the answers to." she snapped angrily. I scowled at her in return.

"Why are you angry? I'm the one with the unchanging life." I retaliated not used to someone treating me so…honestly.

"If you want change, don't wait for it to happen, change things yourself." the cadence in her voice memory made me realize that the sentence meant more to her then I could understand. She looked up at me then, green eyes burning with emotion. "If you do nothing, then you will get nothing."

"How?" I asked truthfully. She pursed her lips sitting back in her chair.

"It's different for everyone." Pearl shrugged, "For me it was leaving my clan." so she left then, she wasn't exiled. "They all thought that I would just be as submissive as the other women, but that wasn't for me. I craved the life my brothers had been granted. He was going to marry me off, but I got away before I became even more trapped."

"So you just ran away?" that was no way to face your problems, no way at all. Running away didn't make them go away, it just made the problems bigger.

"You're one to talk." she muttered glaring accusingly at me. My first reaction was anger, but something held my tongue. Was that what I was doing? Running away? "Why are you out here in the first place?" I glanced at the young woman.

"I was trying to find freedom." I answered honestly. Her angry gaze softened to that of a curious one.

"Freedom from what?" she asked the sharpness in her tone was gone as well.

"I don't know really. I just had to get away. I couldn't stand what had become of my life." her beautiful smiling face, cerulean hair falling in her face, haughty calculating gaze flashed before my face. "I wanted to be in a place before _her._" I swallowed hard closing my eyes against the pain. "I'd given her everything I could…became the person I thought she wanted, but…but she left me." my eyes stung mercilessly. "Everything I do reminds me of what I lost. All I think about are my regrets. Maybe I could have done something, just one little thing and she would have stayed. I can't help but think that maybe if I paid more attention to her, if only I took her on more dates. If I hadn't been weak enough to let myself _die_, that we would still be together." I sniffed rubbing my running nose, my eyes still closed. "I just wanted to be free again." I murmured as my tears slipped through my closed lids.

"C'mon…" a soft hand gripped the underside of my arm. I looked up seeing Pearl standing before me. Her eyes no longer wild. "You drank too much, let's get you to bed." she murmured softly pulling me out of the chair. I went willingly tears still falling from my eyes. I was led to the thin mat in the cubby hole. I laid down turning to look at the unlikely person I had spilled my guts too. She smiled softly down at me, her green eyes weren't pitying. She didn't pity my weakness. "Get some sleep." I complied.

I woke up the next morning to the smell of bacon. I opened my eyes, momentarily not recognizing the stone above my head before I remembered the day be fore's events. I felt my stomach clench with nerves. Had I really told her all that? It had to be the alcohol making my tongue loose. I had never spoken those words, not even to Puar. I barely even admitted it to myself, yet this woman was able to get me to say it. I sat up swinging my legs over the edge of the cubby hole.

"Ah, good your awake." Pearl's voice came from near the fire pit. I turned to see she was in different clothing then the day before. I stood up, feeling the world begin to spin.

"Uhh…" I groaned gripping my head. I heard a snort of amusement.

"There are pain killers on the table with a glass of water already." I nodded heading over to the table with squinted eyes. Once I had swallowed the pills I noticed that the incessant pounding of wind had stopped, and the power was on. "here you go." a plate of hot food was pushed into my line of sight. I looked up at her.

"Thank you, the sandstorm passed?" I asked looking at the food more closely. How she managed to get bacon I didn't know, but then there was also a piece of flat bread, and powdered eggs.

"Yes, pretty bad one too, didn't let up until early this morning." she stated before beginning to eat. I followed suit after my stomach growled at me. I was hungrier then I expected to be with a hangover. We ate in silence. When we finished Pearl took my plate and set it down in a basket. She most likely took it to the oasis to wash. She didn't talk about last night which made me wonder if she even remembered it. We had both been pretty drunk.

"Well I better get going." I stood from the table, stretching my limbs. I grabbed the clothes I had arrived here in and slipped on my shoes.

"I'll show you out." I nodded looking around my old hideout once more. This place held many old memories, and even some new ones.

The heat from the sun had yet to reach it's full potential, but I was already sweating. Everything looked the same, yet completely new. Sandstorms changed the forever morphing desert. Nothing was the same as it was the day before. It was always changing, always moving forward. Even the rocks that were in the desert slowly changed from erosion. Nothing, not even the people stayed the same in the desert. I decapsulated my car, watching it poof into existence. I turned to Pearl, a proud desert dweller. The sword tied securely to her waist and her head held high.

"Thanks, for…well…" I didn't really know what to say. What should I thank her for? Not killing me? Listening to drunk me blubbering away? Her hand gripped my forearm tightly, a sign of respect. Those green eyes nearly glowed in the sunlight.

"You're only as free as you believe yourself to be." her words made me realize that she did remember the night before. I swallowed over the sudden lump in my throat. "It was a pleasure meeting you Yamcha," a half smile quirked onto her lips, "May we meet again." I found myself gripping her forearm in return, a smile on my face.

"Ya," we let go. "I'd like that." I turned to get into my car. I drove away from the young thief that now occupied my old home.

She was unlike any other thief I had met in my life. They were all deceitful and cheats, but she only spoke the truth. Sometimes her honesty was harsh, even hurtful, but still it was the truth. I was glad it was she who now lived in my old home, not some run of the mill thief. I knew that the place that held so many of my childhood memories was being put to good use.

I had come out here to be free of the rut I had fallen into. The rut I had created for myself. The same rut I had been in since the day Bulma left me. She was the love of my life, I had given up my life to be with her, but that wasn't enough. No, it never would be enough. She would have never settled down with a desert bandit turned baseball player. My life wasn't edgy enough for what Bulma needed. She had broken my heart, but it was my own fault for never putting it back together. I had allowed myself to wallow in all my pain and misery. I wasted so many years of my life in love with a woman who could never love me back. I had chained myself to my life.

Pearl's parting words had helped me see that. I was only as free as I allowed myself to be. If I believed myself to be in a never ending cycle then I would be no matter how many people tried getting me out of it. It was all my doing that I had never gotten over Bulma in the first time. I never truly tried to change the way I felt about her, so of course my feelings wouldn't change. I needed to try and change my life, it was the only way anything could ever get done. I had gone into the desert looking for freedom, and I had found it in the most unlikely of ways.

I smiled looking down at the dash to see how I was on gas. I knew what I was going to do now. Tomorrow didn't look so dreary anymore. I had something to look forward to, and that was change. My eyebrows lowered when I noticed my left wrist was barren. I always had my watch on. I hadn't taken it off. I stopped the car patting down my city clothes that were on the passenger seat. It wasn't in them. Where could they-the memory of Pearl's respectful handshake came to mind.

"She stole my watch!" I shouted to the empty car. I stared at my bare wrist in annoyance before I slowly started chuckling. Soon the chuckling turned into full out laughter as I started up the car again.

Rule number one about living in the desert: No matter how nice a person might be, never trust a thief.


End file.
